Statement from USATF President and Chairman Stephanie Hightower

3/26/2014

Statement from USATF President and Chairman Stephanie Hightower:

There has been public discussion the last several weeks about a range of topics in our sport, centered around field-of-play decisions made at the USA Indoor Championships. As we have stated, USATF is taking a look at the events of Albuquerque as well as our related systems and processes. Public suggestions to the contrary, the topics related to Albuquerque are not quick fixes. These are topics that involve important elements of our structure that have ramifications far beyond race results at a single meet.

Since Albuquerque, CEO Max Siegel and I have engaged in a discussion of how best to address these issues in a deliberate, thorough and thoughtful manner. As USATF President and Chair with oversight of governance, I have asked USATF Board Member and IAAF Senior Vice President Bob Hersh, one of international track & field’s foremost experts on competition rules and governance, to lead a USATF working group that will look into these matters. We will announce other members of this group in coming weeks. Athletes will be a very important part of this process, as well as others in our organization. We appreciate the passion of all our stakeholders. Because it is far-reaching, this process will take place over weeks and months.